 "Over 1,500 cases for 2nd consecutive day in Delhi; 9 deaths")
Delhi reported over 1,500 coronavirus cases for the second day on the trot on Friday, while nine more people, highest in around two months, succumbed to the disease, the Health Department said.
The 1,534 new infections pushed the tally to 6,54,276, while over 6.36 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.
This is the highest number of cases since December 16 when 1,547 people tested positive for the virus, according to official data.
The city had recorded 1,515 cases on Thursday, 1,254 cases on Wednesday and 1,101 cases on Tuesday -- the first time since December 24 that the number of cases crossed the 1,000 mark.
The active cases rose to 6,051 from 5,497 on Thursday. The positivity rate rose to 1.80 per cent from 1.69 per cent a day ago, the health bulletin said.
The positivity rate was 1.52 on Wednesday,1.31 percent on Tuesday,1.32 percent on Monday and 1.03 per cent on Sunday.
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There were 888 cases on Monday, 823 on Sunday, 813 on Saturday, 716 on Friday, 607 on Thursday, and 536 on Wednesday last week, according to official data.
Nine more people died from the pathogen on Friday, taking the number of fatalities to 10,987.
A total of 85,092 tests, including 53,044 RT-PCR tests, were conducted a day ago, the bulletin said.
The number of people under home isolation rose to 3,312 from 2,871 a day ago. The containment zones rose to 1,307 from 1,076 from on Thursday, it said.
The caseload in Delhi on January 1 had stood at over 6.25 lakh and the total fatalities were 10,557.
The number of daily cases had started to come down in February. On February 26, the month's highest daily count of 256 cases was recorded.
However, the daily cases have begun to rise again in March and it has been steadily increasing over the past few days.
Health experts and doctors have attributed this "sudden rise" in cases to people turning complacent, not following COVID-appropriate behaviour and "assuming all is well now".
The next two-three months could be challenging, they said, adding the situation can be kept under control if vaccination is opened up for more people and COVID-19 protocols are strictly adhered to.
Amid a rise in coronavirus cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority had on Tuesday ordered that there will be no public celebrations in the national capital during upcoming festivals such Holi and Navaratri.